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www.theabsdiet.com

According to the June 2007 issue of Consumer Reports, in a study rating the diets, The Abs Diet  was rated among the top 5 diet books. It has a supporting website as well.

This diet plan is very similar to Bill Phillips' Body For Life. It advises you to eat 5-6 times per day, it focuses on food high in fiber, avoids any requirement to count calories, and takes advantage of using soy beans, which have gotten a lot of good press lately.

The book was written by Men's Health editor-in-chief David Zinczenko, and it's a simple plan for optimum eating and weight training. Although written more for men (one of the few available), this diet and exercise plan is perfectly applicable to women, and focuses on revving up one's metabolism by building lean muscle.

The diet itself is based upon solid research and common sense, and sounds a lot like the South Beach and Protein Power diets, but with a little more simplicity and a more generous selection of foods to choose from.

The exercise component focuses on weights and using the body's own weight or basic equipment for about half an hour three days a week to build more lean muscle, which in turn burns more calories even while the body is resting.

The theory is that for every extra pound of muscle you gain, your body burns and extra 50 calories a day. This means if you can build an extra 10 lb. of muscle, your body will burn an extra 500 calories a day - enough for you to lose 1 lb. a week, without dieting.

For 6 weeks you'll fill up on 12 nutrient packed "power foods" (see list below) that  provide all the vitamins, minerals and fiber you need for good health, while promoting muscle growth and fat burning. Added to this, you'll do a 20 minute workout three times per week. The diet provides an appropriate balance of carbs (50%), protein (20%), and fat (30%). Recipes are also available.

In the book, there's also a good guide to basic nutrition, success stories, detailed information about the powerfoods, a 7-day diet plan, and illustrated exercises.

Following are the 12 "Power Foods" recommended :

1. Almonds and other nuts eaten with skins intact

2. Beans and other legumes

3. Spinach and other green vegetables

4. Dairy: Fat free or low fat milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese

5. Instant oatmeal, unsweetened and unflavored

6. Eggs

7. Turkey and other lean meats. Lean steak, chicken and fish

8. Peanut butter - all natural, sugar-free

9. Olive oil

10. Whole grain breads and cereals

11. Protein powder

12. Raspberries, other berries

The online service at www.theabsdiet.com offers 100+ animated exercise demos, a personalized meal planner with daily and weekly menus, interactive software for workouts, and online recordkeeping to record your diet progress. The program adjusts your calorie targets. However, there are no chat rooms, email feedback, bulletin boards or other community features.

Also sold is a DVD of the online program, for $19.94 plus $4.20 S/H.

Costs

Online/website service Subscriber Cost

1 month   $25.90 - $16.95 plus $8.95 sign-up fee (avg. $6.47 per week)

3 months  $44.95 ($3.75 per week)

6 months  $69.95 ($2.69 per week)

All service packages auto renew for 1 month terms. After the initial membership period, your card is charged $16.95 per month.

BestDietForMe.com analysts and others note that it's impossible to lose fat from one specific area of your body like your stomach - dieting will help you lose fat all over, not just your stomach area.

The diet is a healthy one that can be followed with easily found supermarket foods. It's great that exercise is a major part of the plan. But, like so many other weight loss programs, this one falls short in the area of psychological support with stress management, emotional eating, binge eating and social situations. The online service also does not provide for support by any nutrition or counseling specialists, or community features. The plan also doesn't seem to accommodate people with food allergies, medical conditions, or special food sensitivities.

Perhaps the only major fault with this diet program concerns the liberties that the author takes with his claims. For instance, he says that better abs will improve your sex life by increasing your endurance in bed and improving men's erections. That may be a stretch.

A spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and the dietitian for the Houston Texans notes that in a day's time, you'll be eating roughly 1700 calories, which could be too low if you are extremely tall or follow a more active workout schedule than the diet recommends.  Though this program can work for women. they may need to cut portions slightly.

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